User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
lmaoooo y’all ok so this book was not good, but it was so chaotic and funny as fuck. so i don’t entirely regret reading it.
and before i get started don’t even come for me with the “why tf did you even pick up this book in the first place? isn’t the cover and title an obvious red flag?” listen…we all have our moments of weakness. i just needed to read something to turn off my brain that’s all. did i end it wanting to rip my hair out and light a cigarette next to my dads open oxygen tank? yes but that’s a lesson learned…anyways…
it starts off with home girl and boy surviving a plane crash together to her becoming his boss. they secretly date but then shit hits the fan and suddenly it the swat team shows up. cops are involved. some girl named lolita shows up. it was a mess yall but in a good way…hear me out…
at points i wanted to slap the shit out of each character. i’m talking backhand slapping all of these fucking bimbos. these bitches were annoying as fuck. i got so much secondhand embarrassment from the main character that made me appreciate that she’s a fictional character because i swear on my life i’d beat her ass if i ever saw her in public.
there were so many out of pocket scenes and chaotic shit that happened in the last 15 chapters that had me hollering. at one point homegirl is held hostage, the swat team shows up, and somehow everything ends with a big bright bow. and now she wants to get off the pill. like ok bitch he ain’t that great but live laugh love i guess.
it was cheap but at the same time entertaining. like don’t go into this book expecting anything good really. it ain’t no literary masterpiece but i’ll admit i was laughing my ass off. a book hasn’t made me activate my fight or flight in a hot minute but i’m glad this one did. i’ve never been in a mood this big to drop kick fictional characters. i don’t necessarily recommend this book but it was a good laugh that’s all
Rating: really liked it
[ Max Logan and Rory Ashford are seatmates on a plane destined for Vancouver. They experience a plane crash (which was totally unb
Rating: really liked it
–
3.25 starsI've been searching for a new hockey series for a while and while this series isn't going into my favorite anytime soon (The Deal is still superior), this was still kinda fun.
There is just something very endearing about a guy who is usually stoic, quiet and intense, doing goofy things with his girlfriend like putting on her t-shirt that only reaches his midriff and then having a Britney Spears dance off. 🥺
"I'll see you later."
Halfway to the elevator, his voice sounded behind me. "Hey, girlfriend."
I spun around. "You talking to me?"
"See any other hotties around here?"
Rory and Max went from stranger to plane crash survivers to one night stand to boss employee and I found that refreshing, even though everything about the plane crash and how the characters handled it was unrealistic, but I'm bored reading about the same first meeting so that was something different that I could look over. But then this book turned into a complete soap opera. 🤡 To name a few things that happened ... there is OW drama where the woman makes a complete 180 turn by the end of the book, the actual & bigger villain doing the stupidest things for no reason or reasons that don't make any sense, a hate twitter account against Rory who tweets like a 12 yrs old girl who was actually a married old crusty white dude (the villain guy), a hostage keeping where Rory gets rescued by men in SWAT uniforms within a short time. By that point, I had to check myself if I took any hallucinogens, cuz it was just too much for me and I thought I was tripping. 😂
In conclusion, it started over the top and it stayed that way. It was trashy, but at least it was entertaining for a short time. 💫
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VANCOUVER WOLVES HOCKEY SERIES #1
Puck Me Secretly – 3.25 stars
#2 Home Game – 3.5 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
#3 The Penalty Box – 3.5 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
#4 High Risk Rookie – 3 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
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Rating: really liked it
TW for sexual assault
I was so obsessed with this book from the moment I started it and listened to the entire audiobook in one day. I do think the beginning was a little bit over the top when Max and Rory survive a plane crash together and Rory reveals her lack of enjoyment in the bedroom. Their survival leaves them spending the night together and then going their separate ways. Little do they know, Max is the newest player on Rory's father's hockey team and she's the general manager in training for that team. Max has a hot head and is in trouble with the press, so Rory is given the job to hand Max from her dad. The two have insane chemistry and really care about each other, but obviously their romance is off limits. I really loved the romance and the hockey we got in this book. Rory is trying to prove herself and that she earned her position and Max is trying to hold onto his career. I really loved Max and how protective was over Rory, even when it meant risking his career. I do think some villains became a bit over the top in this book and the story focused on people being malicious and trying to ruin people's lives, but I that didn't really bother me because I was just so obsessed with the romance. I'm so happy I finally picked this up because it's definitely a new favorite hockey romance of mine!
Rating: really liked it
HOW DID THIS BOOK GO FROM ROM-COM TO SOAP OPERA I FEEL SO CHEATEDLet me present to you exhibit A for how a book can start off 5 stars and end at 1.
What the fuck did I just read?!?This book starts off HILARIOUSLY. I know plane crashes generally speaking aren’t funny, but my god this one was hilarious. I legit thought this would be a 5 star book. The first 20% or so was great. The sexual tension. The humor. The angst. The secrecy. It was SO GOOOD.
Rory made a deal with her dad years ago to go to college in NYC in exchange for interning with him for a year. Only she wasn’t expecting it to be as the assistant GM. Max is a new hire with a rough past. I liked Rory’s fears about her job. Her being open about the nepotism she is getting and how that creates conflicts with other staff members. She knows she’s unqualified. But turns out she really knows her hockey shit. She’s actually
good at her job. And Max is just trying to fit in. I think the book would’ve worked better if it was dual perspective. I wanted to know what his relationship was like with his new team.
We also got
one really fucking great sex scene (most of their sex scenes are fade to black). This one had him being a total dom with light breath play and involved a mirror and was honestly
hot as fuck 💯
The book has such a great start with mild drama and some humor and then....
And then...the tone shifted. And all of a sudden it became a book about sexual assault? And it kind of came out of left field? I mean there was one case of it I figured out very early on in the book, but still.
I have a huge problem with book blurbs making a book out to being something it’s not and no where in the synopsis did it imply I would have to read about sexual assault for 200 pages of a fucking 400 page book. We have four sexual assaults in the book: two rapes that result in pregnancy, one attempted rape, and one false rape accusation. None are on-page, but some are discussed in detail. We get some weird pro-life ‘the baby is innocent’ propaganda which was annoying. You shouldn’t neglect your kid or take out your anger of how the child was conceived on your kid but you also shouldn’t pressure anyone to not to have an abortion if they want to. That was an odd take imo.
Also in a book with so much sexual assault I don’t get why the author would choose to use a fake rape allegation as a major plot point. These are so so rare in real life and make it harder for others to report. It seemed in poor taste for the author to go that route especially considering everything with this character’s background.
The book did tackle for a quick sec how sports favor players over their victims and why that’s wrong. And it tried to clarify that one character was speaking out about her assault for herself but the catalyst was to clear someone’s name and ultimately the motivations didn’t settle right with me.
If you want to tackle subject matter like this that’s fine but do it right or don’t do it at all. This all felt very much like a wattpad attempt at throwing plot twists around.
Oh and if you thought THAT was a huge tone shift then you clearly have not read the last 15% of the book. I straight up couldn’t stop laughing because WHAT?!? Just WHAT?!?!
I mean the motherfucking FBI and SWAT TEAM 🤣🤣🤣 like logistically how that scene played out made NO SENSE. I laughed out loud.
I don’t think I’ll ever get over the scene where the pizza delivery guy shows up and Rory is like ‘i didn’t order a pizza’ and the pizza guy is like ‘well I would just have to toss it do you want it’ and Baxter goes ‘well what kind is it’ AND THE PIZZA GUY YELLS
“It’s called get the fuck on your knees, motherfucker.” and points a gun at Baxter’s head.
THAT IS A REAL SCENE I PROMISE YOU. I CANT MAKE THIS SHIT UP. 🤣🤣🤣
It was so so bad.
Also how the hell did people not realize Baxter was a piece of shit. That’s a dog’s name. You can’t trust humans with animal names!!!!
I think two people must’ve written this book and decided to say fuck all when it comes to editing. One person wrote the hilarious and sexual tension filled first 20% and the other wrote whatever the fuck that ending was supposed to be. I mean Max went from confident and sorta anti-social but flirty in the first 20% to this weird grumpy guy who just sulks in a corner the whole time? Why did his characterization digress?!?
Words cannot describe how hilariously bad so much of this book was. Quick tangent: This book was way toooooo long. The middle third dragged on. By 55% I was begging for it to end. There were so many ‘3 weeks later’ time jumps. It was obnoxious. Plus it’s a pet peeve of mine to have authors alternate being writing “33” and “thirty-three” when referring to the same thing. Just pick one and stick with it! Also the ebook I read (thank fuck I used a giftcard for this book because it was BAD. I can never trust a goodreads rating again) had some formatting errors where chapters were repeated, sentences were repeated, and the occasional word had a strike through. It was odd. Also shouldn’t Rory know the players names? She just keeps calling everyone “the big player” “some player” like BITCH THIS IS YOUR TEAM KNOW THEIR NAMES. Also
I think Max beats out Edward Cullen for most time spent staring at the heroine. Overall: this book had SO MUCH potential to be SO GOOD but it was WAYYYY TOO LONG, covered too long a time period (almost a year) with too many time jumps, wtf was that tone change, poorly handled sexual assault, and most of the book was just plain boring.
Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings: plane crash, violence, alcohol consumption, sexual assault, sexual assault resulting in pregnancy, domestic abuse, marijuana use, cheating (not from main couple),
Rating: really liked it
“You going to cheer for me?”
“Always.”
“What if we win tonight?”
“Lots of hot sex.”
“And if we lose?”
I pretended to ponder that. “I might be too depressed to have sex.”
“Guess we better win then.”
Our eyes met, and we shared a huge smile.
After graduating, Rory Ashford (22) reluctantly returns home to work for her father, the owner and GM of the
Vancouver Wolves, a NHL hockey team. On the plane ride from New York to Vancouver she gets acquainted with her seat mate, Max Logan (26), who ends up helping her through her phobia of flying. Under circumstances of extreme anxiety, Rory word vomits and admits to never having orgasmed before and unfortunately for Rory, her worst nightmare happens, and the plane actually crashes! After the near-death experience, Max gives Rory a night she’d never forget and disappears soon after, leaving her feeling hurt. Back in Vancouver, on her first day as assistant GM, she comes face to face with Max again. When she learns about his identity, a forbidden romance ensues between the two… and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't be fooled by the title and cover! "
Puck Me Secretly" doesn't encapsulate the sweet romance and the (overgenerous amount of) drama this book had at all! If you delve into this book thinking it's going to be super smutty and hella angsty, you're going to be disappointed...
Rory and Max were very likeable main characters. Rory was a very sweet and hardworking girl. She could be a bit of a pushover at times but her determination to just grit her teeth and win over the respect of the men in such a cutthroat work environment made me respect her. I also liked that she was always thoughtful of Max, never letting her romantic interest in him sabotage his career in any way.
Max was such a PURE CINNAMON ROLL. Despite his past, he was so sweet, so tender-hearted, and so compassionate. I had my reservations about him at first because of his violent tendencies but when his reasons were revealed, my heart immensely softened towards him and I instantly fell in love with him thereafter. I found his playboy status in the beginning a little unbelievable but it didn't deter me from liking him. He’s definitely made it onto my
book boyfriends shelf.
Rory and Max made such a cute pair, I couldn’t help but root for them. They had sizzling chemistry from the get-go. And I loved seeing them get jealous and possessive over each other. Although the smut was few and far between, the scenes were pretty hot!
However,
Puck Me Secretly was far from perfect. Here were some things I didn't like so much about this book (
minor spoilers ahead):
1.
The tone: It seemed like the author couldn’t seem to make up her mind about the tone of the story. The first 40% had a lighthearted rom-com feel, and then it quickly devolved into a drama that gave me whiplash. I mean what was with the SWAT team at the end?
2.
Character development: I would’ve liked to have seen Rory stand up to her parents. Whether it was her mom trying to set her up with Calder or her father pushing her into filling his shoes, all she does is try to appease and please her parents. It would've been cool to see her confront them head on.
3.
Secondary characters: Aside from the main characters, everyone else was very two-dimensional. Rory’s parents SUCKED, they added nothing to the story but roadblocks. And what’s worse is that we never got to meet any of the other hockey players on Max’s team! Which is very odd seeing as this is a series. So it was almost as if no one substantial existed aside from the main characters.
4.
The villain(s): They were very caricatured and so unconvincing that they might as well have been a cliched high school clique. (view spoiler)
[Why does Baxter tweet like a 12 year old girl?? And Katrina's 180, felt very unbelievable. (hide spoiler)]5.
Too many subplots: I appreciate the author trying to bring in issues of sexism, sexual harassment and nepotism in the workplace, but those subjects were only briefly touched upon so it seemed rather pointless.
6.
Some typos…Also, I think this book would’ve benefited more if it were written in dual POV instead. Max had more of a story to tell than Rory, so it would’ve been more heartfelt to hear from him.
I KNOW, I KNOW! It sounds like I absolutely hated this book, but I don’t! I'm just a picky reader. Despite its long list of shortcomings, I couldn’t put this book down and ended up staying up till the wee hours of the morning to finish this book. Call it a guilty pleasure – I don’t know! Honestly, with some editing (and perhaps cutting out a few subplots), this could’ve easily been a 5-star read. Odette Stone is clearly a talented writer, so I will definitely be continuing with this series.
If you’re in the mood for a sports romance and don’t mind stories packed (and I mean PACKED) full of melodrama,
Puck Me Secretly might be worth checking out. 🏒
Rating: 3.75/5
Rating: really liked it
The title does not do this book justice... READ THIS BOOK!I went into this assuming it would be a enemies with benefits secret relationship. I am here to tell you that the title of this book does not do it justice. Maybe it should be called “emotional, hot, sweet, romantic, get you feeling all the feels, hockey player and owners daughter puck secretly in this amazing, well written, sexually tense romance.” Ok that made zero sense as a title or as a sentence, but I don’t care because this book was SUCH a good read. Yes it’s a bit over the top, but I still loved it.
If you like slow-burn forbidden hockey romance, with lots of angst then you need to read this. So so good.
Rating: really liked it
⭐ 3.5 Stars ⭐♫ Songs for this book:Lost in Ya Love - Chris Brown
Betterman - Dan D'Lion
❝To be honest, his power scared me. Like a dark angel who could crush a woman's heart without even trying❞🏒 About Puck Me Secretly:This story follows Rory Ashford who just graduated from college and it's coming back home to work with his father who is the owner of a hockey team. Rory has a phobia of flying and, ironically, it is in a plane where she meets Max Logan (he being her seatmate), and also he's a hockey player who is having some troubles getting his career back together. They face a horrible situation during the flight in which Rory has an anxiety attack because the airplane is going to crash, and that's when Max starts to help her so she can get through that horrible experience. As they could not reach their destination, the airline gave passengers the ease of staying in a hotel, and that's where Max and Rory have an unforgettable night, but the next day he disappears. They meet again in Vancouver, Rory being GM's assistant, so it's there where she discovers who Max is and they begin a secret relationship.
What I didn't like:↪After reading half the book I couldn't understand that drastic change that the author gave to the story. I feel that there were things that were out of reality, or I don't know if it was just me.
↪At first, it looked like a super light, sweet and easy-to-read rom-com, but suddenly it turned into something totally different. What was that? 😂
↪In the end, I felt that everything was fixed too quickly. The way the problems were solved and the "villain" discovered, was very unbelievable for me. Oh, and suddenly the SWAT team shows up at the end, wtf?
And that Baxter was Hockey Gurl? C'mon, I saw that coming from the beginning of the story, I wasn't surprised😕
↪Katrina's change from "the villain" to "now I'm good, and I wanna help you" hmmm...nooo, that was weird.
What I liked:↪I loved the relationship between Rory and Max! Their chemistry and connection, omg😍😍
"Will you cheer for me?"
"I always do."
He bent down and dropped a hard kiss on my lips.
"Thanks."
I clutched his arm. "Have fun. I want you to love this."↪Max was my favorite character, although at first he seemed like the typical "bad boy with anger issues", then I realized that he was completely different. He was such a sweetheart, and when I discovered why he was acting like that, my heart melted. Max's POV was sooo necessary, and I'm pissed we didn't get to know him more!! 😩🤧
↪The chapters weren't very long, so it was a quick and fast-paced book for me. Tbh it was just what I needed.
↪The way Rory always looked for a way to help Max to get out of the trouble he was in, I really liked that support between the two of them.
❝All I cared about was that Max was safe and happy. Everyone else could go fuck themselves❞Yesss, that's the attitude, Rory!
Overall, I think that the story could have been better constructed in some aspects, but other than that, I really enjoyed it!
Rating: really liked it
The first thing that comes to my mind after finish listening to the audio book is: this book has a wrong title. The title itself implies forbidden love story. But this is far from a forbidden love story. This is a story of finding that one true person who loves, respect, accept you. Not to mention fight for the love itself.
Max is my new book boyfriend. Image sitting on the crashing plane and this hot hunk sitting next to you and carries you out. How romantic! This is my first read by Miss Stone. She is a very talented writer. She does not bored me with cheesy romantic love story. She insert an office politic, the cut throat competition in sport industry. She is adding plot and plot into a beautiful twist story.
Its just too bad the steamy and dirty talking is lacking the steam and hotness.
Overall I enjoy this book very much
4 stars
Rating: really liked it
Okay, let me start this review saying that I agree with all my GR friend’s reviews about this book, you need to set aside your disbelief and just roll with it.
The scene with the SWAT? The hockey fans hating their star? Plenty of situations that were almost absurd? Yes, yes, yes, I know, crazy.
BUT! I loved it 😂
It has been a while since I read a steamy hockey novel and I LOVED every minute of this one! I can’t give it more stars because it is what it is and because all of its crazy situations, but trust me, if you like hockey spiced up novels, you will like this one.
I spent the night reading and it was worth all the times my partner had to tell me off and to turn the bedside table light off with a face 🤣
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars
Who doesn't love a good sports romance. Especially if it has the grumpy/sunshine trope
Rating: really liked it
Vancouver Wolves Hockey SeriesPuck Me Secretly ➟ 3 stars
Home Game ➟ to be read
The Penalty Box➟ to be read
High Risk Rookie ➟ to be read
Book: Puck Me Secretly
Rating: 3 stars
Favorite Quote: “But are you going to cheer for me?”
I lifted my hand to his cheek. “I always cheer for you.” Summary Rory Ashford is returning home after graduating college to work for her dad who is the general manager of the Vancouver Wolves Hockey team. However, Rory is treading her trip to Vancouver for two reasons: she isn’t ecstatic to go work for her dad and she has a huge fear of flying. And to her misfortune, her fear of planes comes true when the plane starts to have some heavy turbulence. Her misfortune does turn into some luck, when the stranger next to her basically saves her life.
Max Logan is one of the best hockey players in the league, however his apparent attitude isn’t the best. He is being transferred to Vancouver because of a fight he had during a game with his teammate that caused him to be bench for the whole season. As Max and Rory survive a plane crash together, the last thing they were expecting was to see each other again. Soon enough, on the first day of her job Rory is startled to find out the guy who helped her during the crash, is one of the players on the team – she is his boss. Nothing can happen between them but that doesn’t mean their feelings will just go away.
ReviewNothing makes me happier than a good hockey romance. I can’t explain it but out of all sports romances, hockey books always hit different. So, I did not really have any expectations when I started this. I saw hockey and just added it to my tbr. In all, I did enjoy this, but it was definitely a little too melodramatic for my taste.
↳Plot. The plot in this book was a bit weird. At first, I thought it was going to be more of a rom-com. Even though the way Rory and Max met was a scary experience, they kind of had a meet cute. Their first conversations were funny and sweet at the same time. But then the story definitely did take more of a drama-romance feeling, which I didn’t mind in the beginning, but it got worse as the story progressed. The last 30 percent was just drama after drama after drama: so much was happening at once, it was hard to keep up. Also, some of the drama and mysterious plot points were executed poorly and could have been written better. Nonetheless, I liked Odette’s writing style enough that it kept me interested even when there was too much unnecessary drama going on.
↳Characters. I had some issues with our heroine,
Rory . At first, I liked her, she was funny in the first couple chapters and she was really relatable. But then she got really annoying from my point of view. I feel like she created so much OW drama by getting jealous of people that she didn’t need to be jealous of. This really bothered me especially since (view spoiler)
[Max said he wanted to stay focus on his career so he wouldn’t be dating right now. (hide spoiler)] However, by the end of the book I went back to liking her a little bit – in all she was a strong, courageous, sassy, and witty heroine but the plot just made her a unlikable. As for
Max , I am feeling indifferent to him as well. I really liked him in the beginning, he was such a sweet guy, and I couldn’t help but love him. But again, the melodramatics in the plot kind of ruined his character for me so by the end I just couldn’t care less about him.
↳Romance. Rory and Max had a cute romance; from their first interaction I really liked them and I think the sweetness continued throughout the novel. However, nothing about their relationship stood out for me, it felt almost like the same old stuff I read in every other book. So, even though they were enjoyable it was a bit unforgettable. Although, I do want to mention Max was very cute with Rory and I loved his protective side when it came towards her.
↳Ending Thoughts. This was a decent hockey book. I wasn’t disappointed but I still think it could have been better. To be honest, if the last 30 percent did not happen to be so crazy, I think I would have rated this higher. Regardless, I am going to continue on with the series!
Rating: really liked it
3 ❤️ 🏑 ❤️🌟s
Such a great and powerful beginning!!! Rory and Max had great chemistry and were a lovely couple.
However, the slow burn romance, all this scheming, the drama and having only Rory’s pov throughout the whole story, wearied me a lot.
Rating: really liked it
Not a bad start to this series. The SWAT scene made me laugh though.
Puck Me Secretly was a rather quick read. In it, you will meet Rory and Max. Their first meeting was kind of sweet. They were in a plane crash and ended up surviving. It was also cute how he helped ease her anxiety and pain by spending the night with her. Not so sweet was him leaving her high and dry after a hot night but it was bound to happen.
Little did they know that they lived in such a small ass world. She ended up being his boss and it was going to be one wild ride to see what was going to happen. Boy, did stuff happen. Things kind of felt like they were all over the place. Whether it was the swat, the random meanness or hatred, and a bunch of other stuff. For example, her parents being fishy af. It annoyed me to no end so I just had to see how this was going to end.
Overall, it was cute. I, of course, will try to find time to dive into the next book. Mostly because I want to know what else this team can go through. Seriously, I can't wait.
Rating: really liked it
SO I was in the mood for a sports romance but I have read most of the usual suspects. After a lot of searching I came across this one on KU and it sounded like the perfect read for my mood. Odette being a new to me author meant I went into it with some apprehension.
It wasn't long before I was completely sucked in. There were a few moments where I thought the drama was getting to be a little much but I was so invested I quickly got over that and held my breath waiting to see how it was going to play out.
I loved Max and Rory. They had such great chemistry from their first meeting. And I loved that with everything going on they both acted with maturity. And watching Max go all protective alpha, while trying to maintain the secrecy of their relationship was awesome.
I am so happy that this is a KU series so I can head on over to binge the rest of the books.
